


Summer in the Hamptons

by skygirl55



Category: Castle
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 13:11:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13571256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skygirl55/pseuds/skygirl55
Summary: Sometimes letting go is the hardest thing of all. Caskett pre-series AU.





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

“Daddy—c’mon!”

“I’m coming as fast as I can sweetheart.” Though his legs were twice as long as hers, Richard Castle struggled to keep up with the six-year-old girl rushing down the sidewalk in front of him. He jogged a little to ensure they reached the crosswalk at the same time and then landed his hand on her shoulder as they stepped into the crowds crossing at the intersection, which always felt a little bit like being a salmon trying to move upstream.

“Well be faster!”

“Alexis.” Rick’s hand closed tighter on his daughter’s shoulder and he forced her to stop walking. Gazing down at her, he said in a firm yet serious manner, “You need to be patient; there’s no need to rush.”

“But Kate and Thor are waiting for us!” She insisted with a level of seriousness that would have made a stranger think their destination was the Pentagon and not a park in lower Manhattan.

“Yes, and they know we’re coming. Two more blocks and we’ll be there.”

With that, he continued moving with his hand on Alexis’s shoulder, forcing her to walk at a moderate rate instead of darting through pedestrian traffic like an Olympic gold medal awaited her. He understood that Tuesdays and Thursdays were her favorite days of the week; he couldn’t exactly say he disagreed about that, but at the same time she was getting older and needed to learn that getting her way was not always possible. Nor was it possible to have everything _right that very second_ as difficult as that was to explain to her sometimes.

When they turned towards the park’s entrance, Rick had to once again close his fingers around his daughter’s shoulder so she didn’t scamper off until he spotted their friend and her canine companion. When he did see the woman sitting on her usual bench with a German shepherd sitting patiently by her feet, he released his daughter from his grip and almost winced from the piercing way she screamed out, “THOR!” The dog immediately hopped up and began barking and wagging his tail. The woman, who had been reading something in her lap, reached down and unhooked the dog’s leash from his collar, letting him run over and greet his favorite pint-sized companion.

“Thor! Did you miss me Thor? I missed you!” Alexis said as she reached out her hand to stroke the dog now circling her as he barked and hopped about. Revealing the yellow tennis ball in her grip, Alexis held it out to the dog, which took it happily and pranced off towards the open grassy space in the park with Alexis close behind. Rick chuckled and shook his head at the familiar sight. No matter how often they saw each other, Alexis’s excitement always made it seem as though she and Thor were finally being reunited after many weeks apart.

Eight months earlier, just after the beginning of the school year, Rick and his daughter were standing in almost that exact same position tossing a Frisbee back and forth as their after-dinner activity when suddenly the red disc was snatched out of mid-air by an overzealous brown-and-black dog, leaving them both stunned. As the dog stood before Alexis with a wagging tail and an expectant look, his owner, a young woman Rick later learned to be named Kate, hurried over calling out apologies. Rick insisted there was no harm done and even happily gave the pooch a little scratch behind the ears before they parted ways.

A few days later, a similar event occurred, only that time Alexis saw the approaching dog and pitched him the Frisbee, which he caught between his teeth with ease. She then asked for his permission to play with the dog, to which he said she needed permission from the dog’s owner, which Kate happily provided and thus their friendship began.

Through the fall, Rick and Alexis saw Kate and Thor and average of two days a week, but as the days grew shorter and the temperature colder, they hardly saw the duo at all. Occasionally they’d bump into each other on a weekend morning—that was how Rick learned that Kate and her canine actually lived on their street in a building caddy-corner to their own—but for the most part they spent the winter apart. Finally, when spring arrived, Alexis requested that they make their “dates” with Thor more official, and thankfully Kate agreed. They had a standing Tuesday-Thursday schedule, which they tried to stick to as best they could as it made both dog and little girl very happy.

As Thor and Alexis ran through the grass, Rick walked over to the bench and sat beside his twice-a-week companion. After exchanging hellos, she smiled at him and said, “I was hoping you didn’t forget about us today.”

He clicked his tongue. “As if Alexis would allow that. No—I was just finishing up a call with my publisher, which was why we were running a bit late. Sorry about that.”

She shrugged. “No worries.”

Leaning back, he propped his left elbow against the top of the bench and twisted his upper body to face her. “How are you?”

She let out a light laugh and dropped the highlighter she held down into the book open on her lap. “Slowly seeing the light at the end of the tunnel…until they throw more work at me.”

He gave an encouraging smile. “You’ll get through it, I’m sure of it.”

As a stay-at-home father, Rick was used to striking up conversations with the mothers (or fathers, though that was much rarer) of the children Alexis played with. This playground chatter was a standard in his repertoire so it only made sense for him to chat with Thor’s “mother” once he and Alexis began playing regularly. Unlike the other park moms, who seemed to be won over rather quickly by his friendly demeanor and winning smile, Kate was very slow to warm up to him. She was always pleasant and friendly, but never went out of the way to speak with him, and always seemed to have her nose buried in a book. It took him nearly a month to discover she was a lawyer in her first year at a big firm, which explained her youthful appearance and studious demeanor. In the months that followed he’d gained only a limited amount of information further, though she continued to intrigue him endlessly; there was nothing he wanted more than to discover what stories lie behind her mysterious honey-brown eyes.

“Daddy! Are you watching! Look how high Thor can jump!”

Rick looked out towards the grassy area and saw his daughter toss a tennis ball as high into the air as she could. Thor hopped off the ground a foot and trapped it between his teeth on the ball’s decent. “I see that, pumpkin; very impressive!” he called out to her. Then, he turned his head back to gaze at his bench companion, who was once again biting down on the cap of her highlighter. Leaning back in his seat, Rick observed her in as non-creepy a way as he possibly could.

As he generally considered himself a people-watcher, both because of his profession (one never knew from where inspiration would strike) and his personality as a social being, Rick had been interested in Kate from the first moment she’d rushed towards him, her hair in a high-ponytail, dark-rimmed glasses balanced on the bridge of her nose. She had been kind and very apologetic given the situation, but also reserved and shy.

The longer they sat side-by-side during their bi-weekly meets, the more he grew to know her. Of course, this was only due to his own persistence. For a reason he had not yet figured out, Kate was incredibly tight-lipped on her personal life and virtually everything else about her. He didn’t even know her last name! When they first met, he understood it, but after he discovered she was a fan of his books, he was even more surprised by how closed-off she was being. Generally, his fans couldn’t wait to speak to him, which made Kate even more set-apart from the rest.

Why was this woman so seemingly afraid of revealing anything personal about herself to the point where she would deliberately and obviously change the subject with even the most innocent of questions? She was beautiful and clearly kind, which was obvious from the loyalty and devotion of her pet, so why did she spend most of her evenings alone on a park bench with her law books instead of with a significant other? What was the reasoning behind the glimpses of sadness in her eyes he picked up on when she would look out at his daughter playing with her pet?

As a mystery writer, Rick craved the answer to all of these questions and the several dozen more spinning around inside his head, though of course he was too polite to ask any of them outright. Fortunately for his curiosity, she did seem to be getting more comfortable around him. Though it was rare for her to be the one to strike up conversation during their Tuesday-Thursday get-togethers, she did seem less resistant to his questions so long as they remained of the non-personal nature.

For the prior two weeks, Rick had been considering the idea of inviting Kate to dinner as a way of expanding their friendship. He was not entirely sure as to what his ultimate intentions were, but simply being park-friends no longer felt like enough—particularly not when his daughter mentioned Thor at least once a day, sometimes even more. They had never once seen each other outside the park and maybe their friendship was meant to remain only there, maybe it wouldn’t work in a more “real world” setting, but he still felt compelled to ask. It was, as he thought, all part of the process of getting back out there.

“Hey, um, I was wondering.” Rick paused until Kate gazed up at him, curious. “You…wouldn’t want to have dinner sometime, would you?”

Her brow creased. “Dinner? With you?”

“No—all of us. Myself and Alexis. Thor could even come too,” he said, thinking that a group dinner would seem less serious and more casual—friendly.

“Oh.” She capped her highlighter, placed it in the book on her lap, and evaded his gaze. “That’s very kind, but I don’t think so.”

“Really?” he continued, his heart beating a little bit faster. Given her reserved nature he should have been more prepared for rejection, but he was not. Instead, he was a bit dumbfounded. “I, ah, we could get ice cream instead if you…if you’d rather.”

She turned back to him, a small amount of her confidence seemingly returned. “It’s just…I’m sorry if I’ve given you the wrong impression here, but I’m really just too busy with work to have a boyfriend right now.”

“Oh no. That’s not—I’m sorry.” Rick huffed out a breath and dropped his chin to his chest. He had not intended for her to interpret his invitation as one to a date—which was why he’d purposely included his daughter. He would never say that he was uninterested in going on a date with the beautiful woman beside him—quite the opposite in fact—but that he knew would be in the future.

“See, ah, I know I told you I was divorced, but the truth is that it hasn’t even been a year since Alexis’s mother left us. I’m definitely not ready to be in a relationship again—not yet. I just…I guess I was just thinking how well that Alexis and Thor get along—he honestly seems just as excited to see her as she is to see him, so I thought maybe it would be nice for us to see each other outside of the park. Totally casual—I promise.” He concluded with a soft smile.

Her expression softened with a blink. “Oh, I’m sorry for assuming.”

He shook his head. “No, don’t be; I understand. So, does that change your mind?”

“Ah.” She hesitated and gazed out towards the grass, where Alexis was now on her hands and knees as she scratched Thor’s belly. “Well, I, um—week nights are pretty busy for me, I’m not—I’m not sure that would work out.”

“Well Alexis does have a pretty busy weekend social calendar, but I think she could probably squeeze you in,” Rick said, teasing. When Kate looked back to him, he smiled. “Seriously—any day of the week we can probably make work.”

She nodded. “Um, okay, well let me look at my calendar and I can get back to you next Tuesday?”

“Ah.” Rick dipped his hand into the pocket of his jeans and procured the business card he’d prepared for this exact moment. The card was his standard one with all of his publisher’s official contact information, but on the back of it he’d handwritten his personal number. “Or—you could call me.”

“Oh. Right.” Kate took the card as though it might be tainted with some sort of poison, but once it was tucked into the spine of her book, she gave him a nod. “Okay—I’ll call you and we can set something up.”

Rick slid his hand over the back of the bench and gave the top of her shoulder a quick squeeze. “I can’t wait.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes letting go is the hardest thing of all. Caskett pre-series AU.

**Chapter 2**

“Good evening, Ms. Beckett.”

“Oh, um.” Kate almost startled when the doorman tipped his hat in her direction. This was only her third time at the Castle apartment building—had he really learned her name that quickly? “Hi Eduardo; thanks,” she said when he opened the door wide enough for her and Thor to step inside.

As she walked towards the elevator, Kate shook her head, trying not to think too much about her interaction with the Broome Street doorman. It stood to reason that he would go out of his way to be extra polite to any guests of the man living in the penthouse apartment and her reading into it any further beyond that was most likely blowing things out of proportion. Then again, that was her typical MO and it was a hard one to shake.

Stepping onto the elevator, Thor let out a little yip of excitement and Kate could not help but chuckle as she glanced down at her pet. “You excited, buddy?” As his response was to wag his tail even more frantically, Kate merely shook her head and said, “You’re just excited for Alexis’s table scraps.” After inadvertently turning Thor into a terrible food thief when he was a puppy, Kate had forced her pet to go cold-turkey on any human food and he had been reasonably well behaved ever since. Then, he’d taken up residence beside Alexis’s seat at dinner and she’d caught the little girl slipping him a chunk of chicken before she’d warned her not to. She thought about stopping the her, but Alexis’s giggle as Thor bathed her hand with his tongue had won her over, and she’d simply cautioned her against giving him more than a few treats.

On the fifth floor, Kate stepped out of the elevator and approached the penthouse apartment door with the familiar mix of nerves and anticipation in her belly. Two weeks earlier, on her first visit, nerves had definitely won out, and she would have turned around and returned home were it not for Thor’s insistent tugging at his leash. Rick had said that their dinner was meant to be a friends-only event and she believed him, but even that was more than she usually participated in.

As far as Kate was concerned, the only interaction she needed to have with others was with Thor and with her father. Of course she had to speak with her coworkers and clients as much as was necessarily to perform her job, and that was fine, but outside of that she wished to limit her personal interactions. It was better that way—safer. Then, Rick Castle happened.

When Thor stole a Frisbee out of a red-headed little girl’s hand, Kate had been mortified, particularly since he had never done anything like that before. Her embarrassment and horror only grew when she recognized the face of the man laughing and struggling to retrieve his plastic disk from her pet’s death-grip. She’d been thoroughly relieved when he’d brushed off the event, and had her mind set on never interacting with the duo again, but they—and her pet—seemed to have other plans.

Though speaking with her favorite author was something Kate had desired for a long time, she had to continually remind herself that staying away from others was best, particularly when that “other” was a moderately famous mystery writer with a precocious six-year-old daughter. The last thing she ever wanted to do was hurt anyone, particularly not a family. But then he had just been so…insistent! Their interactions really were beyond the scope of her control.

As fall faded into winter, Kate resigned herself to accept her park conversations with Rick. She adjusted her attitude from being tersely cordial to being reasonably friendly while still remaining guarded. She did enjoy his company, after all. He was usually good for a hearty laugh and watching Thor and Alexis play was adorable. When spring returned, Kate decided that being acquaintances with Rick was something she would accept as long as their relationship did not expand beyond the park bench on which they sat. And then he’d asked her to dinner.

To that day, Kate wasn’t sure what made her agree to join him, but when she’d arrived with nerves in her belly and dread in her chest she’d decided the event would be singular. She would eat dinner with Rick and Alexis that night, but never agree to see them outside the park again. That remained her mantra through the meal until just before dessert when Alexis presented her with a drawing she’d made depicting an afternoon at the park, with herself, Thor, and a tennis ball in the foreground, and Rick and Kate in the background sitting on a bench. Gazing down into the sparkling and hopeful eyes of the red-headed little girl Kate’s stomach seized with guilt and simply could not turn down the invitation to get ice cream with them the following Sunday.

The problem was: Kate really liked the Castles— _really_ liked them. They were fun, kind, and enjoyable to be around. In fact, being around them made her realize just how much she missed interacting with people whose company she enjoyed. Unfortunately, her reasons for avoiding said company remained, which was why no matter how much she liked them, that evening needed to be her final one in their presence; it was the only way to keep them safe.

“Kate—perfect timing.”

“Hi Rick. I—oh, all right! Calm down!” Kate groaned at the way her pet was hopping around and jerking at his leash as he barked. She reached down and unclipped the leash and he ducked between the tall man’s legs to race into the apartment and towards his best friend.

“THOR!” Alexis called out as he barreled into her, nearly knocking her down with his enthusiasm.

“Never gets old.” Rick chuckled.

Kate shook her head. “No, no it does not.” Honestly, she was beginning to think her dog preferred the little girl to herself and was certain that did she not continue to dole out his food his loyalty would switch over in an instant.

“Wine?”

“Please.” She returned as she toed off her shoes and then followed him towards the kitchen at a slower pace. She gazed over at Thor and Alexis playing tug-o-war in the center of the living area with a toy she hoped was meant for dogs, but then gave a little shake of her head. She’d long-since given up her guilt over the Castles buying toys and treats for her pet. She always insisted it was unnecessary, but they never stopped, so she figured there was no use fighting it.

“So did you get a lot of case work done today?”

She hummed out a thank you when he passed over the goblet of red. She took a sip and shut her eyes, reveling in the taste as it swirled around her tongue. One thing was for certain: her favorite author had impeccable taste in wine. Then again, the price per bottle was not something he appeared to be very concerned about.

“Ah yeah; I was in the office until about one. Then Thor and I went to the laundromat.”

As he stood in front of the stovetop, Rick arched an eyebrow at her. “There’s a laundromat that allows dogs?”

She chuckled. “No. He was leashed to a light pole out front while I filled the washers—and very unhappy about it.”

“I’m sure.”

“I just feel bad leaving him at home all day on weekends too, you know? He’s already stuck in my small apartment Monday through Friday. At least he was outside a little bit,” she said with a little shrug. The prior year of her life, ever since graduating law school and passing the Bar, had been an adjustment for both of them. Kate no longer had the freedom in her schedule to take Thor for walks more than once a day. In the very beginning, she hardly had time for once-a-day walks and had to rely on her father to take Thor out in the late afternoon so he could relieve himself. Her schedule had settled down in recent months, but she was still incredibly busy leaving little free time for both of them.

“Well, actually, while we’re on the subject—kind of—I was-”

“Daddy!” Alexis interrupted her father as she came running into the kitchen, Thor close behind her. “Did you ask her yet?”

“I was just about to, honey.”

“Ask me what?” Kate chimed in, curious.

Alexis turned to face her with an ear-to-ear grin and asked, “Would you like to come with us to the Hamptons?”

“Hamptons?” Kate echoed, mildly confused by the randomness of the request.

“We have a house out there.” Rick clarified further.

“A house,” she echoed again, a bit dumbly as she tried to process what was happening.

“Yeah, you know: four walls and a roof.”

Despite the author’s lighthearted grin, Kate’s heart clenched with fear to the point where her stomach felt nauseated. She placed her wine glass down on the counter and backed two steps away from the kitchen. “Oh, I, well, I, um.” Kate stammered while trying to come up with an excuse plausible enough to placate the excited looking duo.

“Thor can come too!” Alexis chimed in as though that would provide extra incentive.

Clearing her throat, Kate gazed down at the girl. “That’s a very sweet invitation, Alexis, but I—I really am just so swamped at work right now that—that I don’t think that will be possible.” Despite stumbling a bit, Kate felt she had produced the perfect excuse—one that a six-year-old might not be able to fully understand, but one that her father would have no choice but to accept.

“This isn’t for a whole week or anything,” Rick jumped in to clarify. “Just the weekend. With school still in session we leave on Friday afternoons and come back Sunday evening so just about forty-eight hours.”

Kate faltered for a moment, as that knowledge did put a small kink in her fool-proof plan, but she still believed work was the best excuse. “I still need my Saturdays to keep my head above water, Rick; I’m sorry.”

“All work and no play could make Kate go crazy,” the writer said in a bit of a sing-song way. Without missing a beat he continued with, “Don’t answer now—just think about it as we eat. Speaking of—please go put Thor’s toy back and then wash your hands, okay pumpkin?”

“Okay Dad,” the girl cheerfully agreed.

Kate watched as Alexis walked back towards the living area, Thor cheerfully trotting at her side, and felt her stomach flip in her gut. _Shit_. She had never expected this! She knew that the Castle family was only trying to be kind to her, and she appreciated that, but they had no idea what danger they were unintentionally bringing upon themselves by not letting her and Thor go. Really, it was her fault—she should have never allowed herself to grow close to them at all. She should have stopped taking Thor to that park after Alexis threw him the Frisbee. Now, she had to make her escape while not hurting the bright-eyed little girl in the process.

“Thor! Stop!”

Alexis’s giggle pulled Kate from her thoughts just as she was about to sit down at the dinner table. Alexis was already seated with Thor by her side, and when Kate peered over the table she saw one of the dog’s paws was already in Alexis’s lap. Evidently he was ramping up his begging game, which meant that was the first thing she needed to nip in the bud.

“Thor, come.” Kate commanded her pet. He obeyed, though with a hanging head. Kate pointed to a spot a few feet behind her chair and said, “Lay down.” Thor looked up at her and licked his lips, clearly resistant. “Thor; down.” She commanded again and he obeyed.

“Aww but he’s so sad.” Rick sighed out sadly as the pooch watched him carry food to the table with mournful eyes.

“He’ll get his food when we go home.”

“You know,” Rick said, sitting down at the head of the table, “I don’t think I ever asked—why did you call him Thor? Are you a comic book fan?”

“Oh, um, not really, but I did get his name from comics. Before I got him I was trying to think of a good, strong name and I happened to be walking by a comic book shop and there was a Thor comic in the window. I just…I dunno,” she shrugged. “Sounded like a good name for him.”

“Oh don’t get me wrong I love it; I was just curious.”

Kate felt her heart flutter under Rick’s smile and she cursed silently while turning back to her plate of food. Damn—she really had let herself grow far too close to this family.

Rick was…a rather indescribable human being. Kind and friendly—those qualities were obvious upon meeting them. A bit of a flirt she’d come to find out over their months of meet-ups. But he was also one of those people that had an inexplicable comforting quality to them. He made her want to open up, want to go close to someone, and were it not for the looming terror over her head, she would have been tempted—very tempted. But if anything were to happen to him because of her…the father of a young child—that would have been horrific enough, but a _celebrity_ no less? She would never be able to live with herself—that was assuming she survived at all.

“Daddy can I show Thor my room after dinner?”

“Ah…” The man hesitated and glanced briefly at Kate. “Well…I suppose, but real quick, okay? I’m sure he’s hungry for his dinner.”

“Great!” Alexis quickly inhaled the last three bites of her foot before jumping up and yelling, “C’mon Thor!” while still half chewing.

As dog and girl bounded up the steps, Kate turned her head to see Rick giving her a rather apologetic look. “Listen, I’m sorry if you feel like we ambushed you about going to the Hamptons.”

“Oh—no. No I don’t think that,” she insisted quickly.

He shrugged a little. “Still, we sprung it on you. I just wanted to give more of an explanation. I just…it seems like you work hard—really hard. I remember a few weeks ago you said you hadn’t been on a vacation since you started law school and, well, not that this is a vacation per-se, but it would be a little getaway. If it would make you feel better: you can bring work with you. You can lock yourself away in my office and let Alexis and I play with Thor on the beach—I’m sure he’d love that.”

“Well actually…he’s not the biggest fan of water; giving him a bath is a nightmare,” she said with a half-groan.

He chuckled. “Okay, then; we’ll keep away from the water. But it’s like you said—you feel bad having Thor cooped up on weekends, but this way he’ll be getting tons of attention and you can do all the work you need.”

“I…I don’t know.” She sighed and lowered her chin to her chest. She knew he wasn’t trying to torture her, but he was making it very difficult for her to say no—rather, for her to find a reasonable and believable excuse to use to turn down his invitation.

“Think about it, okay? Just give it a few days. We go out every weekend so whenever it fits in to your schedule.”

“I, ah, yeah—okay. I’ll, um, think about it,” Kate said finally. She hoped this non-commitment would give her time to think of a solid excuse not to go—because she couldn’t. She was too close to them already.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Wiping his hands on a kitchen towel, Rick ducked out onto the porch of his Hamptons beach home, threw the towel over his left shoulder, and walked over to his daughter, who was stretched out on one of the lounge chairs, book propped up on her thighs. Though she had yet to read any of his works (she wasn’t quite old enough for those) Alexis had certainly inherited her father’s love of literature, and easily read chapter books far above her grade-level without second thought, which made her father very proud.

“’lexis,” he said, calling her attention. “Which veggie do you want with dinner: peas or green beans?”

She momentarily scrunched her nose, as green veggies were her least favorite—no matter the type. “What else are we having?”

“Pork chops.”

“Ughh…beans I guess.”

Rick smiled, leaned over and bumped his lips against the crown of her head. “One day you will like peas, sweet pea.”

“No!” Alexis insisted and her father simply chuckled. Then, he gazed down at the canine sprawled out at the foot of the chaise lounge. Despite Rick walking within a few feet of him, Thor hadn’t lifted his head, swished his tail, or made any other movements to indicate he was still alive. Evidently, he’d been thoroughly worn out by their mid-afternoon excursion.

“You’re letting Thor rest, right sweetie?”

“Uh huh.”

Rick hummed, studied the furry chest of the dog to make sure it still rose and fell with his breathing, and then merely shrugged and walked back into the kitchen. He gazed in the oven to check their main course, and once he saw it was beginning to turn slightly brown at the edges, he decided to alert his other houseguest about the impending meal.

As he walked back towards the office, Rick could not help but smile proudly at the fact that he had successfully convinced Kate and her pup to spend the weekend at his beach retreat. It really had been quite adorable how flustered she’d become when he inquired about her thoughts on his invitation the next time they saw one another at the park. She stammered out several uncertainties before ultimately agreeing to join him so long as she could contribute in some way to the weekend. He agreed, though never intended on making her stick to her word since she was his guest and there was no need for her to offer to help with cleaning or cooking or whatever she intended to help with.

Pausing at the edge of the hallway, he could just barely see her seated at his desk. She wore her dark-rimmed reading glasses and her hair was twisted into a bun at the top of her head. When combined with the way she chewed on the cap of her highlighter, Rick believed it gave her a very studious if not slightly librarian-esque appearance. He felt a few tingles flow southward in his spine, but immediately shook his head, shutting down that notion—at least for the time being since his feelings at that moment were, at best, complicated.

Now that the anger and bitterness that remained after his divorce had finally faded away, Rick believed he was ready to once again embark on a romantic relationship with a woman. He also strongly believed Kate could be that woman, but yet he remained cautious about dating as a single father. He’d read articles and blogs about the topic specifically and one piece of advice he wanted to heed for certain was not to have women drifting in and out of his daughter’s life. If he was going to date someone, he needed to do so without that woman meeting Alexis until their relationship was established…

… _unless_ he could date a woman with whom he already had an established relationship by way of a friendship.

Of course, this was far from the only reason he was interested in Kate. She was beautiful, intelligent, and had a smile that made his heart flutter in ways it hadn’t since he was a teen. Plus, in an unexpected sort of way, she simply seemed to fit with them. She had ever since that first day at the park, and inviting her into their home had felt completely natural. Yet, at the same time, Rick’s gut told him the time was still not right.

Just because he thought he was ready didn’t mean that he was. He certainly didn’t want to rush into anything only to have it later blow up in his face. Then, at the same time, there was Kate. He didn’t believe she was uninterested in him romantically—her smiles and averted gazes when their eyes met told him as much. But there was something…something about her he just couldn’t put his finger on. Even with all their dinners and now the twenty-four hours they’d spent in each other’s presence, she still remained extremely hesitant to divulge anything remotely personal. Given what else he knew about her, he could not simply brush that off as shyness; there was more to the story and he needed to dig a bit deeper before elevating their relationship to any level above what it was then.

Clearing his throat, he stepped up to the doorway to the office and tapped his knuckles against the doorframe. “Kate?” he called out to get her attention. She jumped slightly and pulled her glasses off the end of her nose as she looked up at him. “Sorry to interrupt I just wanted to say that dinner will be ready in about half an hour.”

“Wha—I…” She glanced around at the papers spread out over his desk for a few minutes, clearly disoriented, before looking back up at him and saying, “What time is it? I thought I was making dinner tonight.”

“It’s after five and really-”

“After five!? Shit! I’m sorry—why didn’t you interrupt me?!”

He offered a gentle smile at her frazzled sounding tone. “Kate, don’t worry about it. I know you’re busy and it’s no big deal—just pork chops and some veggies.”

She capped her highlighter and tossed it down on the desk. “Well at least let me help you set the table,” she said, sounding thoroughly annoyed with herself.

He smiled. “If you want, but take your time; no rush.” With that, he turned and walked out of the office heading back towards the kitchen.

* * *

 

Kate let out a small groan as she packed up her books and case paperwork. She was mad at herself for not realizing the time sooner so she could have contributed to dinner. Then again, she had been worried she would not get enough work done that weekend with the Castles and that was certainly not the case, which she was very thankful for. Still, the last thing she wanted was to be an ungrateful guest.

Despite the fact that she was quickly approaching the twenty-four-hour mark of her time in the Hamptons, Kate could still hardly believe she had agreed to join the Castle clan that May weekend. While sitting alone in her apartment trying to come up with excuses that seemed reasonable and believable enough to get her out of the invitation, Thor’s incessant staring and whining continually drew her attention away from her plotting and back towards visions of Alexis’s smile and her pup’s wagging tail as they played with balls or Frisbees. The more she waivered in her plot to turn down the invitation, the more insistently he whined. It was uncanny—almost as if he knew what was going on inside her mind.

Deep down, Kate knew the fears that prevented her from getting close to other people—whether it was in a romantic or friendship capacity—were irrational. She didn’t need to be afraid to have anything more than casual interactions with others. She didn’t need to isolate herself from coworkers and friendly people she met on the subway or in the park. But every time she tried to convince herself otherwise, the little voice in the back of her head went, “But is it safe? Are you really sure?”

Five years had passed since she heard from her mother’s killers; five years since they threatened her life and that of her father. True, the killers had never threatened anyone other than the two of them, but how could she know if she were to enter a relationship that man would not be in danger? Worse—that man and his family? Perhaps if the killers thought she was thinking of going to the police, they would use that man or—god forbid—his child as leverage to buy her silence. If that were to happen, she would never be able to live with herself.

Though she had survived the attack that took her mother’s life, as the lonely years passed Kate began to wonder how much that survival was a blessing and how much it was actually too heavy of a burden to bear. Sitting in her apartment as Thor nudged her knee again and again with his cold nose, she thought that perhaps her vow of solitude was too harsh. Just because there were people keen on killing her if she made a move they didn’t like did not mean she couldn’t live her life. She doubted these people, whoever they are, were stalking her and watching her every move. That seemed illogical no matter how much the taunting voices inside her mind told her it wasn’t.

After many hours of wrestling back and forth Kate ultimately decided she could be friends with the Castles, but nothing more. They would be the kind of friends who hung out at the park and on rare occasion ate dinner together, but that was where their interaction needed to end. True, staying at the beach house did elevate them slightly above a barely-friends status, but so long as that too was a rare occasion, no one dangerous would be any the wiser.

Despite settling on that decision for several days to become comfortable with it, Kate still fought nerves when she climbed into Rick’s Mercedes the prior day. She second-guessed herself all the way up until they pulled into the driveway of his Hamptons estate. After that she was too stunned to be fearful.

To say that Rick’s home was completely overwhelming would have been an understatement. She had been thoroughly impressed by his spacious, two-story loft in the city, but the beach house was downright outrageous with a dozen rooms, exquisite décor, and a breath-taking beachy backyard. It was truly an oasis and she was thankful to be there for even the briefest period of time and wanted to express that gratitude by helping with dinner.

“So what’s the case you’re working on?” Rick asked her after he’d pointed out where she could find the plates and utensils to set the table. “Or I guess you can’t say, can you?”

Kate almost laughed. Surely this man had heard of attorney-client privilege before, but perhaps he was just trying to make conversation. “No, I can’t tell you about it, but I doubt you’d want me to—it’s about securities fraud. Lots and lots of legal jargon.”

He grimaced. “Yikes. I can’t even read my book contracts—that sounds like a nightmare. Do you come from a family of lawyers, by chance?”

She bobbed her head. “My parents.”

He smiled. “Ah, so that’s where you get it from.”

She gave a little shrug and then tried to change the subject. “Can I do anything else?”

“Nope.”

She gripped the back of one of the chairs a little bit harder than necessarily. “Are you sure? I don’t want it to seem like I’m taking advantage.”

He tilted his head to the side and gazed at her as though that idea had been one of the furthest from his mind. “But we invited you; you’re the guest. Speaking of—you’re welcome back any time.”

“Oh.” She felt startled by the unexpected comment, particularly since she was hoping this event would be once and done—not that she didn’t enjoy his home, but it was best for the limited-friendship status she was trying to maintain. “It is lovely here, Rick but I…I shouldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“I…it’s too much. We’re just park acquaintances.”

He took a few steps closer to her, casually leaning his hand against the kitchen island. “What if I want us to be friends? I invite my friends out here all the time.”

“I…” She hesitated while internally cursing. How could she possibly explain that she wanted to be only minor-friends and not good friends without sounding like an insane person? Worse—without feeling forced to reveal the truth she swore she’d take to the grave.

He closed the distance between them and gently brushed his fingertips down the outside of her arm. “Kate—I don’t want to twist your arm into something you’re uncomfortable with, but you did seem to be enjoying yourself when you and Thor were playing this morning.”

She dropped her chin to her chest, trying to hide the smile on her face at the memory of how her dog had pranced through the sand while trying to retrieve his favorite ball. “Well yeah. It’s hard not to enjoy this place—it’s gorgeous.”

“So you’ll come back?”

She let out an airy laugh. “You’re making it hard for me to say no.”

He grinned, clearly proud. “I know. C’mon Kate—it’s almost summer.”

“But work-”

“You got work done today.” He reminded her coolly. “If you don’t want to do it for you, do it for Thor. Look how happy he is.”

Kate gazed out towards the patio where Rick gestured. She could see Thor sitting beside Alexis’s chase lounge, his head resting by Alexis’s foot as she stroked one of her tiny fingers down his snout. Looking back to her companion she said, “Thor would be just as happy back in the city.”

“Mmm I don’t know about that. There are no seagulls there.”

Kate laughed loudly as she had never seen her dog as happy as when he was chasing his newfound nemesis. Knowing she wouldn’t win any contrary argument in that moment, she rounded her shoulders, let out an exhale and said, “I’ll think about it, okay?”

“You might as well just agree—you know you’re going to.” He winked at her and then, without anther word, turned back towards the stove. Kate remained standing by the dining table as she dragged her teeth across her bottom lip, both annoyed and happy with the fact that the writer had a very valid point.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

“Kate! Look at this one!”

The brunette looked up to see the young girl racing towards her with an object trapped between her index finger and thumb held high above her head. Kate reached out for it once Alexis was close enough and saw that she had found a perfectly shaped bay scallop shell without any cracks or imperfections. “Oohh good one ‘lex. I found two of those too, but they’re not as good as yours.” Kate held out her left hand with palm flat so Alexis could see the similar shells, though they each had cracks around the edges.

“No, they’ll work. Thanks!” Alexis took all three shells and ran back up the beach to the sand castle she had constructed using preformed plastic molds. She pressed each of the shells into the side of the castle—the windows, she had previously explained to Kate—then stepped back to admire her work.

“Looks great.” Kate told her. “Do you want to collect anymore?”

“No,” she said, dropping to her knees in the sand and reaching out for her plastic molds once more. “I’m just going to put another room on the castle.”

“Okay.”

Kate dragged her beach chair over a bit closer to where Alexis was kneeling and plopped down in it. With a light sigh she leaned back in the seat and gazed wistfully out at the waves gently breaking a dozen feet away. It really was beautiful there. So beautiful that she wondered how she ever considered not returning, even if a little bit of anxiety did build up in her chest each and every time she climbed into the passenger seat of Rick’s Mercedes.

Nearly two months had passed since her first trip out to the end of Long Island and in that time Kate had joined the Castles at their home three additional times. Despite Rick’s insistence that she join them every weekend, Kate told him there was no way she could possibly do that and still keep up with her laundry, cleaning, and other necessary chores. Besides, she didn’t want to overstay her welcome, even if he insisted that wasn’t possible.

Though if up to her own devices Kate may have agreed to join the family one more time, she quickly learned just how persuasive her favorite author could be. Really, it was quite ridiculous. Normally, if she made up her mind about something, she was not easily swayed, but Rick’s smile and continued nudging were for some reason impossible to say no to. Perhaps that was because deep down she really didn’t want to say no.

Though she remained uncertain about just how close she should be to her new friends, Kate found Rick and Alexis’s presence in her life to be quite relieving in addition to being enjoyable. She had not realized quite how lonely her isolation had made her until she was playing a board game with them and laughing so hard tears were streaming down her cheeks. Her belly was even sore the next day from all the laughing and she couldn’t have been happier about it. They were fun and helped her remember that the world wasn’t only full of criminals or corrupt individuals, but that honest, good-hearted people still existed and the Castle family was among them.

Kate realized in that moment that she had been so distracted with playing with Alexis for the prior hour she hadn’t even thought about her pending case once. She immediately felt guilt wash over her, but tried to brush it off. Just because she was trying to prove herself to be the best possible lawyer she could be did not mean that she needed to think about her cases twenty-four seven. That was unreasonable. She had already spent three hours that morning working and had agreed to play with Alexis through the afternoon so that Rick could work on his book. She felt this to be a more than fair tradeoff for his hospitality.

“Kate?”

“Mm—yeah Alexis,” she said, slightly startled by the girl’s unexpected words as she had been consumed with her own thoughts.

“Will you fix my hair?”

“Um, yeah. Sure.”

As Alexis continued to pile up the sand around her newly formed structure, Kate walked around behind the young girl and attempted to comb back some of the chunks that had dropped out of her braid. She quickly realized that salvaging the existing hairdo was impossible, so she pulled out the rubber tie at the end of the braid, clamped it between her teeth and began raking her fingers through the orange locks to separate enough to braid again.

“Can you do a French braid? Daddy always says his fingers are too big to do that.”

“Uh-huh.” Kate mumbled, the hair tie still trapped in her teeth. She then reorganized her grip on the girls’ hair so she could do a French braid. “Is that too tight?” she asked once she began to pull strands of hair into the braid, knowing she wanted it to be snug enough to hold, but not painful.

“It’s fine.”

“Okay.”

With several more twists, Alexis’s shoulder-length hair was once again secured at the back of her head. Once Kate moved back to her seat, Alexis sat up, shook her head, and then smiled at the elder woman. “You’re good at that—much better than my mom ever was.”

“Ah, thanks.” Kate laughed lightly, not sure how else to respond to the delicate topic of Meredith, Alexis’s mother.

“She never liked to braid my hair…or play with me.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

Alexis looked up at her with an expression that made it very obvious that her statement was accurate. “She only liked to take me shopping.”

“Shopping can be fun,” Kate said, maintaining her positive attitude.

“Not _all_ the time.”

Kate pressed her lips together tightly, not sure what else to say to help the girl. Before going to the Hamptons, all Kate knew about Rick’s martial situation was that his wife had left him at the end of the school year before they met and moved out to California. Evidently, she was an actress. Through the talks she and Rick had after Alexis went to bed she learned that Meredith had actually been having an affair, which was the major catalyst for her West Coast move, as the director she was sleeping with obtained a job out there and she intended to tag along. She also learned that his marriage had always been rocky and that Meredith had never been “mother of the year”—those were Rick’s exact words and she hadn’t learned any more detail, but she presumed the woman to be very self-centered and Alexis’s statements certainly confirmed that.

“Did your mom teach you how to braid hair, Kate?”

“Um…” Kate hesitated for a moment and thought back to her childhood. She honestly could not recall at what point or how she learned to braid hair, though she assumed it was one of her friends during her youth. She was certain it was not her mother and thus she could not provide Alexis with a fairytale-esque moment of epiphany, but perhaps that was for the best. “No, I don’t think so; I think I just figured it out.”

A frown crossed Alexis’s face. “Oh.”

“But you know she taught me other things,” Kate continued. “Like how to bake and how to sew.”

“Oh, my Gran sews her costumes and Daddy’s a great cook!”

“Yes he is,” Kate said, mirroring the young girl’s smile.

“Do you still bake with your mom?”

“Ah, no.” Kate fought a wince from the pain that shot through her heart. “Actually, my mom passed away a few years ago.”

“Oh. Is that why only your dad is coming to visit us next week?”

Kate nodded in response to the girl’s question, but also fought to roll her eyes. What were the odds of Rick and Alexis bumping into her and her father on the street two weeks earlier? She supposed that since they lived on the same street the even was not that unlikely, but she had never run into them before! Plus, she’d thought the Castles were spending that entire week out at the Hamptons now that school was over, but there they were, waving excitedly. Of course, her father was well aware of the stories about “Thor’s best friend Alexis” but suddenly not only were they all chatting, but Rick was inviting her father out to the Hamptons before she could protest.

Given that her father knew nothing of the death threats she received, Kate could not give any explanation as to why she was trying to discourage her father from making the trip other than a weak, “It’s complicated,” that her father didn’t buy at all. He’d agreed to visit the following week and she and Thor would be joining him. With the plans set, all she could do was hope it wasn’t awkward, or that it wouldn’t encourage a deeper connection with the Castle clan than she wanted to convey.

“That must be sad.”

“It is sometimes,” Kate said. Not wanting to continue speaking about her mother, she then changed the subject with, “Let’s go look for some shells to decorate your new castle with, okay?”

“Okay!” Alexis agreed before hoping up immediately and running towards the surf with Kate close behind.

* * *

 

 

Sitting at his desk, Rick Castle shifted positions so that instead of leaning back in his seat he leaned forward, balancing his elbows on the edge of his desk and cradling his chin against the heel of his hand. As he drummed his fingertips across his upper lip, he thought not about Storm’s latest adventures, but about a new character. She wasn’t fully developed yet; she was but a silhouette but she had potential—a lot of it.

When he thought about this mystery woman—Nikki, he was definitely going to call her Nikki—he saw her as a lawyer. She was a savvy young woman maybe only a year or two out of school dedicating her life to the job. She worked late hours reaching cases and pulling together data. She didn’t have much of a social life, but that didn’t matter to her. She wanted to help people. She wanted to be the best. She wanted… _something_.

Rick groaned and pushed himself up from his seat. Grabbing a stress ball shaped like the globe on his way, he began to pace the space in front of his desk, squeezing the ball and tossing it in-between hands. Something was missing. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. The character had drive, that was for sure, but what drove her? What made Kate—er, _Nikki_ —dedicate herself so tirelessly to the job?

In truth, he had no idea, but he also knew that the knowledge would come. Maybe not from Kate. Perhaps given time his brain would be able to fill in the gaps. Or, perhaps given time, the more time he spent with Kate, the perfect ideas would come to light.

No matter how much time Rick wished to spend thinking about Nikki, he knew Derek Storm was the character he needed to focus on, particularly with chapters due by the end of the month. Thinking a walk to the kitchen for a soda might clear his head he tossed the stress ball back onto his desk and padded his way across the wood floors. Before he reached the kitchen, he caught sight of Kate and Alexis walking up the path from the beach. Thor, who had been napping on the porch, rushed out to greet them. Rick smiled.

To say that he was thrilled with the fact that Kate had visited their Hamptons home not once but four times would have been an understatement. She had been so tentative and hesitant he wasn’t sure what she would ultimately decide, but with each visit she seemed to relax more and more in his presence. During their nightly glass of wine after Alexis’s bedtime they would swap stories and though he still told more than half of them, she did offer up a few of her own, particularly the night before when he asked her to tell him about her father in advance of his visit. Twenty minutes into the tale about a baseball loving, soft-spoken man he was anxious to know better, he asked about her mother, and sadly learned she had passed away several years before. From her tone, he knew not to press. The death had clearly been shocking and tragic, and the last thing he wanted to do was pry or make her feel uncomfortable, but he was also glad to know that information, as he believed it explained some of the sadness in her eyes, though even that was starting to fade.

By that point in mid-July he was certain that the connection he felt to Kate was real and true. Yes, she was still reserved, but he’d caught her staring at him more than once from across the sand. And her smiles were getting wider and wider, so he couldn’t help but think she felt something similar. Even more important was how she interacted with her daughter.

After his marriage imploded Rick promised himself that he would never again enter a relationship with a woman if that woman was not someone who could accept and love his daughter. Alexis was too young to have her heart broken again and again, and as her father he needed to protect her, even if it resulted in more than a few lonely nights for himself. Fortunately, with Kate that didn’t seem to be an issue. From the day they began playing together in the park with Thor it was clear that Kate had a kind, caring heart. Now that he was able to observe some one-on-one time they shared he knew that she was exactly the kind of woman with whom he wanted to be in a relationship.

Despite these desires, Rick also knew Kate wasn’t quite to that point yet. She would still change the subject if it strayed too close to her present personal life. And though there were times she clearly looked at him with want, there were just as many times she turned away. He was hoping that a weekend with her father changed all that and bonded them on a deeper level, which was why he was planning the most fun weekend ever. Though some of his ideas were ambitious, he believed it would work out. It would work out—he’d make sure of it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Sitting at the desk at the Castle family Hampton’s home, Kate was determined to focus on her casework— _determined_. Unfortunately, for the better part of that day, so many other things had been more entertaining and proved worthwhile distractions. Finally, she handed off Thor to Alexis and her father and shut herself in the office. She needed to work on her case and clean up her notes or come Monday she would deeply regret her last minute excursion to the Hamptons.

The prior weekend she and her father had a surprisingly pleasant forty-eight hours with the Castle family. Though they had a few awkward moments, Thor always seemed to know when to interject himself into the moment to have everyone smiling and chatting again. As Rick and her father enjoyed a baseball game Saturday afternoon, Kate made dinner for all of them with a little bit of help from Alexis. They ate and laughed and on the way back to the city her father expressed how happy he was that he’d agreed to go, because the relaxing break was just what he had needed. Meanwhile, Kate was simply happy the weekend hadn’t become a complete disaster.

After they parted from the Castle clan, her father began to pepper her with questions about the true nature of her relationship with the family, specifically with Rick. Kate insisted they were only friends, from the look on her father’s face he clearly did not believe her, and that’s when Kate realized she had probably overstepped the line. Though it had not been her idea, allowing her father to join them for the weekend certainly conveyed a deeper level of intimacy than she wished to, so she decided that she needed to take a break and remain in the city for a few weekends to give herself some distance. Then, she’d encountered a rather incorrigible version Rick Castle on the street and her weekend of solitude had gone up in smoke.

Honestly, she had no idea how he was so persuasive. She was a lawyer and thus supposed to be persuasive by nature—and she was, for the most part. When she made up her mind, she rarely changed it seeing as she also happened to be rather stubborn. But Rick? Somehow he just had this magic way of smiling, touching her arm gently and convincing her to change her mind with even the simplest, “Are you sure Kate? We’ll really miss you and Thor if you don’t join us.” As he’d said these words, he’d smiled and her heart had completely surrendered, agreeing to join him without ever consulting her brain. After that weekend, though, she was definitely taking a break.

Just as Kate flipped to a new page in her case book, she was momentarily distracted by commotion outside the office door. The voices of Rick and Alexis were louder than they had been previously, but Kate tried her best to ignore them; they were probably just passing by the office on their way towards the front of the house. Before she could focus back in, however, she distinctly heard Castle call out her name, very loudly and purposefully.

Knowing he had never before interrupted her unless it was mealtime, Kate’s interest was piqued so she stood from her seat and walked over to the door. Immediately upon opening it she heard Rick hushing his daughter, but Alexis’s sobs did not seem to be abated by his words. Instantly concerned that the young girl was ill or injured, Kate’s stomach clenched and she hurried towards the commotion in the front hall.

“What’s going on?” she demanded as she rounded the corner. She saw Castle crouched in front of his daughter, a distraught look on his face, meanwhile Alexis seemed inconsolable.

“Alexis—she-”

“I’m so sorry!” Alexis blubbered out, turning towards Kate. Only in that moment did Kate realize that the girl held Thor’s green leash limply in her hand.

Kate felt a cold sweat breakout over her forehead and the back of her neck as she asked, “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“It seems Thor’s leash broke and he ran off while Alexis was walking him,” Rick explained.

“God!” Kate gasped. While the young girl cried out, “I’m sorry!” Kate merely pushed past her and ran out the front door of the home despite the fact that she had no shoes on.

“Thor! Thor! Come here Thor!” She called out, racing out across the grass, but there was no sight of him. To the left the neighbors had a large brick wall surrounding their property and she knew Thor could never have jumped it, so instead she ran right, continuing to call out for her dog. She could see into that neighbor’s front yard, but he wasn’t there. Unfortunately, along the side of the house there was scrub brush and trees she didn’t want to run through in bare feet, so she merely circled around the house to the back yard, but still couldn’t find him. Realizing she was now on a wild goose chase, she charged up the back porch stairs and went into the kitchen, knowing she needed more information from Alexis before she continued her search.

Unsurprisingly, Rick and Alexis hadn’t moved from their spot in the foyer, though it seemed Alexis’s tears had calmed slightly.

“…It’s okay, sweetheart. It was just an accident and we’ll find Thor.”

“But Kate’s so mad and it’s my fault.”

“No, honey, it’s—oh. Did you find him?” Rick asked upon noticing Kate.

She shook her head. “Did you see what direction he ran off, Alexis?”

“Down the street; there was a seagull.”

“The street!?” Kate squeaked as a fresh wave of panic coursed through her. Alexis nodded, still tearful, and Kate began to hyperventilate.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Rick said, remaining calm. “Here’s what we’re going to do: Kate you go west and Alexis and I will take the car and go east. He can’t have gone that far, right?”

“I…okay.” Kate agreed distantly as her heart still thudded beneath his ribcage.

“Great, okay—hold on, just let me grab the keys. We’ll find him, Kate—don’t worry!”

 

* * *

 

 

Devastated. Kate was utterly and completely devastated.

She had walked down the street until she reached the highway, then she’d turned around and walked back, continuing to call out Thor’s name. By the time she was making her fourth sweep almost forty minutes had passed. She saw Castle’s Mercedes approaching and, though her feet were tired, she ran towards it, thinking he’d found her beloved pet, but they hadn’t had any luck either.

“C’mon; let’s go back and regroup,” he had said to her, and though she’d wanted to keep walking until her feet could hold her weight no more, she agreed and reluctantly climbed into his vehicle.

“I’m going to call the local animal shelter,” Rick said as they walked back into his house. “Thor has a chip, right?”

“Y-yeah,” Kate rasped out.

“Okay, hold on—maybe they found him.”

Raking her hands back through her hair, Kate paced the kitchen area and tried her best not to panic. Rationally she knew that there was no reason to believe something terrible had happened to Thor. He was a friendly dog who loved people, so it was entirely possible he’d followed someone home and that person had called the shelter about him. Just because he ran off on the road didn’t mean that—

No. she wouldn’t think that. They were going to find him; he was going to be fine.

Sniffing back some tears, Kate turned to grab herself some water from the refrigerator when she spotted Alexis. The girl had barely walked past the entryway from the garage and hovered beside the door leading to the pantry appearing as though she wished she could disappear into the wall somehow. When she saw a single tear slide down her cheek, her stomach clenched for a completely different reason.

Kate was an adult and no matter how upset she was being an adult meant being the bigger person. Alexis was only six years old; there was no reason for her to bear such a burden particularly when Thor’s escape was not her fault.

“Oh, Alexis.” Kate dropped to her knees in front of the girl and reached out to take one of her hands. “It’s okay.”

“No; ‘s my fault.” The girl mumbled.

“No—no it was an accident. Thor could have broken his leash when anyone was walking him, me included.”

“But he wouldn’t have run away from you!”

“He might have; we don’t know that. Most importantly: I don’t blame you. I know this was an accident.” Truly, she did not blame Alexis. Yes, she was upset, but had never felt ill will towards her. “C’mere,” Kate said, reaching out for her, but Alexis turned and ran off before Kate could touch her.

Sighing, Kate pushed herself back into a standing position and retrieved a water bottle from the refrigerator. She took a few sips as she anxiously paced the kitchen for a few moments before she heard Rick’s footsteps returning. Spinning around, she was about to ask if the shelter had found her pet, but the look on the writer’s face made it clear that they hadn’t. “They don’t have him?”

“Sorry,” he sighed, stopping just a few feet from her. “They haven’t had any calls or dogs dropped off all day.”

Kate nodded though her bottom lip began to tremble. So much for a nice family finding her pet and trying to return him to his rightful owner.

“Hey, it’s okay; we’re gonna find him.” Rick promised her. Then, without waiting for her response, he slipped one hand around her shoulders to pull her in close. Without even thinking Kate wrapped her arms around his waist and accepted his hug. His hands skimmed her back as he continued to voice his thoughts aloud. “We’ll just regroup here and then go out looking some more. We still have plenty of time before sunset and-”

“Dad! Dad! Dad!” Rick’s words were cut off by Alexis stampeding into the kitchen calling out for her father.

“What? What?” he asked frantically, pulling himself away from Kate.

“Thor’s in the back yard!”

“What!?” Kate spluttered. She sprinted towards the glass patio door, grappled with the handle for a moment, and then charged out into the yard to see what Alexis must have seen from an upstairs window: Thor, with head and tail dropped, trotting up the path leading from the beach to the house’s back yard.

“Thor!” Kate proclaimed, half with relief, half in a scolding tone.

He didn’t lift his head or his tail, merely slunk past her and continued his way up to the porch where Rick and Alexis were waiting.

“Somebody knows he’s in trouble,” Rick said, a bit sing-song.

“A lot of trouble,” Kate grunted.

Rick merely chuckled and then squeezed his daughter’s shoulder. “C’mon. Let’s start dinner. Then, after we eat we’ll go buy Thor a new leash.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Oh man, he still looks _so_ guilty.” Rick couldn’t help but chuckle as he gazed at the dog laying a few feet away. On a normal evening, Thor would try to nudge his way on to the couch, though Kate always discouraged it. At the very least he would be sitting by their feet. That night, however, he remained under the kitchen table, where he’d settled after they ate. His face was resting on his paws and he gazed over at them with sad eyes.

Kate craned her neck so that she could see him from where she sat with her back to the kitchen. Looking back to her companion, she said pointedly, “He should be guilty after everything he put us through. Thanks again for helping, by the way.”

“Of course. He…it kind of feels like he’s part of the family.” Though he maintained composure initially, as he and Alexis drove up and down the street with windows rolled down calling out for a dog he doubted would come to anyone but his true owner, Rick began to feel more than a little upset. What if Thor didn’t return to them that night? Surely Kate wouldn’t want to go back to the city without him. Worse, what if something had happened to Thor? Though he never considered himself much of a pet person before meeting Kate, Rick knew he would be very sad if Thor was no longer in their lives if for no other reason than his daughter would be crushed.

Kate sighed heavily and stood from the couch so she could take her empty beer bottle to the kitchen recycling bin. “Well, he’s going to be excommunicated if he runs away again. Yeah,” Kate dipped her head to gaze down at the dog whose ears had perked when she walked by, “That’s right—I’m talking about you.”

“Aww.” Rick sighed.

“C’mon,” Kate said, grabbing the new, bright red leash off the back of one of the kitchen chairs. “Out one last time.” Thor obeyed his owner and crawled out from under the kitchen table. He stood patiently while Kate hooked the leash to his collar and then trotted beside her on the way outside.

Rick skimmed his fingers over his chin as he watched them go. Yes, he would have been sad if Thor was no longer in their lives, but as time went on, not having Kate in his life was beginning to grow a bit unfathomable. Now that they were on the brink of August, her spending time with them each weekend felt as natural as it ever had. In his mind, this meant he needed to bite the bullet and broach the subject of a romantic relationship with her, but he still wasn’t sure how to go about it.

Earlier that afternoon, when he’d pulled her into a hug believing se was about to cry, was the first time they’d had more physical contact than the casual brush of each other’s hand or shoulder as they went about their daily routine. Of course the drought in physical contact was not from Rick’s end. He often tried to hug her when dropping her off at her place after a weekend together, but she always darted away or used her grip on Thor’s leash and her overnight bag as an excuse. Despite this, he still believed there were other signs she was interested in him romantically, but the situation would require a bit of finesse, which he was still working up the courage to have. It would, after all, be his first post-divorce relationship and he was bound to be rusty.

A few minutes later, Kate and Thor returned to the house. She unhooked his leash and then draped it casually over the back of a chair once more. “Well, I guess I’m gonna…” Her voice drifted off as she thumbed towards the stairs.

“Sure, sure.”

She took two steps forward as he rose from the couch and they met in the center of the hall at the edge of the kitchen. She gave him a smile. “Thanks again for today. I was pretty frantic and-”

“No,” he promised. “You were reacting as anyone else would have. Don’t even worry about it.” He reached his arm with the intent to pat her back, but she evidently interpreted the move as him reaching out for a hug, because she ducked under the arm and wound her arms around his waist. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Rick closed his arms around her shoulders and, without thinking, pressed a kiss onto the top of her head. He felt her tense momentarily and was about to curse himself for being foolish when she slid back and gazed at him from beneath her brow line. She looked— _oh_. Well. She looked as though she was interested in more than just a kiss on the head, but in his out-of-practice state, he couldn’t trust his own assessment of her expression. Still, she lingered in his embrace, so he decided to test the waters.

Cautiously, Rick dipped his head and pressed a kiss onto the apple of her cheek. Almost instantly she turned her head and captured his lips in a slightly awkward kiss. Rick pulled back, took a moment to collect himself, and then leaned in again to kiss her and it was— _oh_. Perfect. She felt just as wonderful in his arms as he imagined she would.

“I, ah, um…” Rick stammered a minute later when their lips separated. She gave him a rather amused look and he stepped away from their embrace. He could feel his cheeks flush as he scraped his hand over the back of his neck and confessed, “Ah, shit, I guess I’m kind of bad at this.”

She stepped forward again, resting her palms on either side of his waist. “Bad at what?”

“I, ah…” He shivered when he felt her lips against the underside of his jaw. “Well, um, if you-”

“Rick?”

He swallowed hard as she moved her lips further down his throat. “Y-yeah?”

Lifting her head, she smiled at him. “Stop talking,” she requested. And then she kissed him.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posting here; also on FF.net


End file.
